SouthPark-area shopping center acquired by new owners

A local commercial real estate firm has purchased the SouthPark-area Specialty Shops on the Park for $25 million, the company said Monday, and plans to attract new national tenants to the center.

Hill Partners, the firm that converted the old Cotswold Mall to the Cotswold Village Shops, teamed up with GRE Specialty Shops to complete the purchase, the companies said. GRE is affiliated with investment firm Guggenheim Partners.

Hill Partners President Bob Spratt said there are about three vacancies in the shopping center, whose anchor tenants include Williams-Sonoma, Talbots and Toscana Ristorante.

“From a merchandising standpoint, we’re looking to build off what currently exists,” Spratt said. He said the firm will be looking to attract “unique additions” of new retailers to the shopping center, which is located on Morrison Boulevard.